Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Jewish-American fourth and fifth graders reading from a popular textbook about Israel are treated to an "Alice in Wonderland" version of history, Marcy Newman argued in a lecture at the American University in Beirut on Tuesday.

Reading Chaya Burstein's "Our Land of Israel" - used in 40-45 percent of Jewish schools in the United States - creates "a sense of Alice down the rabbit hole, where everything is turned upside down," said the visiting assistant professor at the Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR).

Among other interpretations, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war is presented as a defensive campaign and there is no sign of the Occupied Palestinian Territories or Palestinian towns on a map of "Israel."

Ah yes, in May 1948 the Jews decided to start a war against every single Arab neighbor. Nothing defensive about it at all!

In what Newman says is an analogy between Palestinians and American Indians, the book informs its young readers that "In the old days, Palestine was like the Wild West." She went on to explain how many similar examples are intended to create a "shared identity between Israelis and US Jews."

And of course it is evil for US Jews to feel an affinity with Israeli Jews. I'm sure that Newman would be equally upset at Michigan textbooks that try to create a shared identity between Arab Americans and Palestinian Arabs.

What's even funnier is her cluelessness: mentioning the Wild West is a simple analogy, a teaching tool. Her reading so much into it to find a nefarious Jewish plot is typical of "anti-Zionists."

By the way, the textbook itself is not a history text: it is meant to teach about modern Israel through children's eyes, including Arabs.

The lecture, titled "Promised Land Propaganda: Jewish American Education and the Zionist Lobby in the US," was given to a full house in West Hall on the AUB campus and was sponsored by CASAR.

Newman is an assistant professor of English at Boise State University. CASAR Director Patrick McGreevy introduced Newman as "a teacher, a scholar, as well as an activist."

No kidding! Her blog indicates that her hatred for Israel is so all-encompassing that she moved to Beirut to show how committed she was to the cause (and yes, her T-shirt there says "end the occupation." And yes, her name is spelled there as " Dr. Marcy /مارسي Newman / نوما ن ".)

According to Newman's research, through the educational system in Jewish schools in America, "Jewish children are indoctrinated with the simplistic dogma of Zionism." Above all, the founding of Israel is "mythicized and romanticized." Such biases, according to the activist, "render the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians invisible."

Yes, fourth graders should not be taught simple concepts.

And the ridiculous assertion that there was "ethnic cleansing" in 1948 is not a "simplistic dogma."

Another far-left looney "academic" who lives in her own bubble, not afraid to say absurd things in public because she has an adoring audience who cannot get enough of it and no one who would ever point out how hypocritical she is.

From MEMRI : Jordanian businessman Talal Abu Ghazaleh said that there was an “easy solution” to the Palestinian problem: “Let every Pal...

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